Lock, Stock And Teardrops
by elisaday16
Summary: AU. Teenage Addison needs a light to lead her out of the darkness of her life.
1. Chapter 1

**Lock, Stock And Teardrops**

_The girl with the long blond hair sighed gut-wrenchingly and grasped the boy's hand._

_''Kyle, I love you. I can't hide it any longer. Now tell me, do you love me too?''_

_Kyle smiled broadly, showing more teeth than you would assume a human person has, and pulled the girl into his muscular arms, shouting ''I love you too, Patricia!'' in an annoyingly croaky voice._

Back on the sofa, the corners of Addison's mouth twitched down wards as she turned off the TV, her face gracing a look of pure disgust.

''This is surreal. That girl's a Barbie, probably dumber than a slice of bread. And I won't even _begin_ to talk about that teeth showing fool of a teenage boy.''

She shoved the pillow, she'd been clutching at, to the side and got up from the cozy sofa, her reddish eyebrows knitted together.

''Sweetheart, why don't you just stop being so pessimistic and call a friend to come over?'', her mother asked while preventing the maid from knocking over her favorite vase.

''That would be nice, wouldn't it?''

Pulling on her black, knee-high boots, Addison shot her mother an unnerved look and took the dog leash from the small table next to the door.

''I'll walk the dog'', she said. ''At least he knows when to shut up ...'', she added in a murmur before whistling louder than you thought she was capable of. Promptly, a mini-version of a dog came scampering in, looking like a small ball of brown hair rolling on the polished marble floor.

Without another word, Addison leashed the frolicking hair ball and hurried out of the door, shutting it behind her with a loud thump. Her mother let out an exasperated cry (''That girl!''), making the maid jump and drop the expensive vase onto the floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces.

Outside, the redhead turned up the collar of her grey coat, the coldness of December turning her pale fingers numb. But it didn't bother her, it was peaceful and quiet. That's all that mattered to her in this moment. She watched Poe (her dog) scampering beside her, a half-smile slowly creeping its way onto her delicate face. She loved that dog. She knew dogs were said to be dumb, loyal, but dumb. But sometimes she had the feeling that little Poe understood her much better than anyone else. And most important he was her friend. Addison had many friends, the whole school so to speak but if you define ''friends" by loyal, loving and understanding, Poe was her only friend. Deep in thought, Addison heard the warning shout ''Watch out!!!'' a little too late and the last thing she saw was a big Great Dane making a bolt for her chest. Then everything faded into blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

_Our house, in the middle of our street_

_  
Our house, in the middle of our?_

_  
Our house, in the middle of our street_

_  
Our house, in the middle of our?_

_  
Something tells you that you've got to get away from it_

(slap)

(slap)

She felt her cheeks being slapped twice. She desperately tried to hang onto the pink and fluffy clouds she'd been dancing on previously but felt herself being pulled away from the rainbows and non-fat, sugar-free lollipops anyway.

Quietly swearing to yell at the fool who woke her from her fantasy, she opened her eyes.

"Oh my fucking God."

Feeling as though small, shining, red hearts had appeared on her widened eyes, she quickly squeezed them shut, trying hard to get rid of the pictures of wedding bands, shared beds, kisses and two toothbrushes in a toothbrush cup adorning the bathroom. She shuddered slightly as she felt him touch her hand softly. And then, when he spoke, his voice was nice and comforting and she couldn't suppress a small sigh escaping from her cold lips.

"You do know I know you're awake, right?", he asked and his chuckle made a fuzzy warm feeling spread from her frozen toes to her shivering fingers and finally to the very tip of her nose.

"Erm, yeah. I'm awake." Her voice was unsure and hesitating as her eyelids fluttered open slowly. She looked him in the eye, ignoring the urge to clap her hands over her eyes and run away, and let herself be absorbed by the pools of glistening blue ocean, staring back at her.

And again her mind wandered of to cozy evenings on the sofa, the beautiful boy hovering above her cold body holding her, Addison, in his strong arms. They'd be the inseparable couple, although each of them would have their own free spaces. She imagined them living in a small but gorgeous house, maybe even near the cost. But once again her thoughts were interrupted by the goosebumps giving voice.

"You fell right on your head ... and you seem to be a little absent. Are you OK? Does it hurt somewhere?" The concern in his voice made her face redden, the color of her long hair matching her face's.

She quickly put on a nervous smile, ignoring the stabbing pain in the back of her head that made her sight slightly blurry. But blurry enough not to notice how handsome the boy was. Yes, how handsome her boy was ...

"No, I'm OK. No need to blow the pain away, I guess." She internally winced at the stupidity of her answer. Fortunately, the boy laughed heartily and got up to his feet, outstretching his hand to her with a smile still lingering on his lips. A comforting fire blazed up in the depths of her heart as she held out her cold hand to him and his warm one closed around hers, pulling her up to her feet.

"Thank you. I owe you something." Addison smiled at him, reluctantly pulling her pale hand from his. To her surprise, the boy grimaced, a hissing sound escaping slowly from his lips. Meanwhile Addison watched him with widened eyes, a thousand thoughts running through her head. Was her smile too toothy? Was there some of the poppyseed roll she had had before stuck between her teeth? Did he find her _that_ disgusting? Should she just go? Should she? Should she?!

"You shouldn't thank me, really. It was actually my fault you fell at all. I know Strummer's a little wild sometimes", he said sheepishly, nodding vaguely into the direction of the Great Dane who was wallowing about on the frozen meadow. They watched the two dogs in silence for a minute, Addison trying hard not to feel the pain that was still making her dizzy.

Addison cleared her throat quietly, feeling he might be bored with her. "Anyway, I'm Addison. Nice to meet you." She tried a welcoming smile but instead felt herself blush again. She quickly turned her head towards the meadow as though the two playing dogs (or more like Strummer running after a scared Poe) had suddenly drawn her interest.

She saw the boy smile a heavenly smile out of the corner of her eye. "It's nice to ... well _meet_ you too, Addison. I'm Derek ... and that big dog over there is Strummer." Derek looked at her, his dark hair blowing ever so slightly in the cold December wind. "So ..."

Addison jerked her head in his direction, eyes bulging. Her brain was working on high-speed. He was going to leave ... She'd never see him again. He'd be a memory, nothing more than an unimportant memory. She only knew his name ... his first name to be exact. She had no clue where he lived, what his last name was and how _he_ was. All she knew was that he was hers. Would be hers.

She quickly tried to think of a way to make him stay. "Derek, ... uhm, would you like to walk the dog with me? They obviously seem to get along quite good." She knew that was a complete lie; that Strummer dog was currently working on poor Poe with his huge paws but Addison didn't care and promised herself to buy him a maximum size of dog biscuits later.

Addison had the slight feeling Derek knew the dogs weren't really a loving couple as a grin pulled at the corner's of his mouth. But he hid it well and smiled at her. "I'd love to, Addison."

Not being able to suppress a huge toothy smile, Addison beamed up at the handsome boy. "Let's go then, shall we?", Derek asked and, to her delight, put his arm around her thick clad waist, guiding her gently forward. Addison bit her lip in embarrassment as she wished for his hand to touch her bare skin, to feel him rub her back in affection.

"It's cold, isn't it? I don't wanna be complaining but I'm freezing my ass off ...", Derek said and Addison felt as though he was pulling her closer. But perhaps that was only wishful thinking. They walked in silence, his hand still resting on her waist and her head still hurting. But although her hands and ears were numb, Addison wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else than here with him.

"I think I really need to get home now. Time went by really quickly, don't you think?", he broke the comfortable silence after a good 15 minutes and, although she felt a stab in her heart at the thought of him leaving her alone, she put on a smile and nodded her head. "But there's no way I'm leaving you alone in the cold", he said, making the redhead beam up at him. "Where do you live? I'll walk you home."

So they stood, a while later, at the door of the Montgomery's house. Addison smiled at him, her warm breath looking like smoke in the cold air. She bit her lip. "That's our house. It was nice. Really nice", Addison said nervously and began rummaging through the pockets of her warm coat, trying to find the key.

She felt his eyes burn through the fabric of her clothes and noticed her fingers trembling. "Where - ... I can't find - ... must've left it on the kitchen counter ...", she murmured and stopped looking for the key with a frustrated sigh. "I guess I'll have to ring the doorbell then."

She shot him an unsure smile and pressed her forefinger onto the golden bell-button to her right. She heard it ring out in the house, the sound of footsteps coming nearer. Suddenly Derek, who had been quiet before, leaned in close, his warm breath tickling her skin.

"I'm glad you fell", Derek whispered into her ear, making her shiver. She closed her eyes, listening to him breathing near her ear. And suddenly it stopped. Feeling the warmth drain from her body, she opened her eyes with a jolt and turned but only saw him disappear behind a tall hedge. She sighed as the door was opened, revealing Mrs Montgomery. "There you are, kid. That incompetent maid has miraculously vanished. I'm going to dismiss her tomorrow."

But Addison didn't listen and instead walked past her mother into the warm house, a smile gracing her lips. "Oh Prince Charming, Prince Charming ...", she breathed, ascending the marble stairs and walking into her room where she dropped onto her soft bouncy bed and stared at the white ceiling. That's when she didn't give a damn about the fact that this seemed like a schmaltzy flick she wouldn't have watched in a hundred years.

And she liked it.


End file.
